360° Panorama Photo: Easternmost Point of the U.S.

The easternmost (and east-southeasternmost) points of the United States are here at Quoddy Head State Park in Maine. The beautiful West Quoddy Head Lighthouse, built in 1858, sits next to the former lighthouse keeper's quarters. The first time I visited this place in 1985, the lighthouse was manned but in 1988 it was automated and now the lighthouse keeper's quarters is a Visitor Center.

That visit in 1985 was the first time I'd been to one of America's geographic extreme compass points. I'm not counting the marker in Key West, Florida, which I'd first visited when I was a kid, because contrary to popular opinion, Key West isn't the southernmost point of anything. So I guess you could say that my whole Extreme Geographer thing started right here.

One question, though: If this is the easternmost point of the U.S., then why's it called the West Quoddy Head lighthouse? I never got an answer to that one.